Should police rules be toughened up?

OPINION: A police technique that can trick people into making false confessions is no longer used overseas because it is so unreliable. But here, police still actively use the so-called Mr Big scenario. Why doesn’t Parliament act to ban it? An MP from eac

Our Government is working harder and smarter to keep our communities safe, break the cycle of offending and tackle the root causes of crime in New Zealand. We are also committed to ensuring that our justice system continues to live up to its name.

In New Zealand, the Evidence Act already requires that judges exclude unreasonable confessions. And in 2019, following a review into the relevant provisions, the Law Commission considered that no change was required.

However, it is useful to consider the rules of evidence regularly to ensure that our justice systemworks for all of the participants within it.

We recently made improvements to evidence practices in sexual violence and family violence cases, following recommendations made by the Law Commission. These changes reduced unnecessary harm for complainants and witnesses, including through allowing sexual violence victims to give evidence in various ways.

Also, the justice select committee is currently considering a petition that calls for a stop to jailhouse informant testimony causingwrongful convictions.

In addition to our work to ensure that our justice system is effective, we have

continued to work relentlessly to deliver on our plan to keep New Zealanders and communities safe.

Already we have increased the police budget by 30 per cent, which has seen the number of police on the beat increase by around 15 per cent in the last five years. As a result of this investment, our Government has delivered the largest police workforce ever, with 700 additional officers alone to be focused on organised crime by June 2023.

To further combat the harm caused by organised crime and gangs, we have amended the law around criminal proceeds to hit the gangs in their pockets– with police seizing over $500million in cash and assets from gangs and criminals in the last four years. We have also seen the charging rate against identified gang members at around 92 per cent in the year to date, which has gone up under ourwatch.

Our gun buyback scheme and police seizures have taken more than 60,000 prohibited firearms out of circulation. We have strengthened counter-terrorism laws, and we are ensuring the right tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm.

We are also continuing to roll out our plan to rehabilitate offenders and reduce reoffending, including through initiatives that are designed in partnership with Māori. There’s still more to do, but we are making good progress.

Every day our police bravely put themselves on the front line. They deal with some tragic scenarios which many of us cannot begin to imagine. But what is the process if something goes wrong, such as the wrong person is chargedwith a crime or amember of the force takes advantage of their position? The police use awide array of investigative and policing tools which are designed to solve complicated and puzzling cases. Amajority of those cases they are dealtwith fairly, consistently and we end up with the right person being prosecuted.

But nothing is perfect, andmistakes can be made in policing just like they are made in any other workplace.

The police have incredibly strict rules that they have to comply with, and those are largely adhered to. Alongside those rules there are at least three entities who are responsible for identifying noncompliance or misuse of police tactics, being the Crown prosecutors’ office, the courts and the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).

All these three entities are incredibly well funded and equipped to deal with any issues arising from the police. If there was a major issue with policing tactics, we need to trust that the appropriate entitywill investigate it. That being said, the ‘Mr Big’ police tactic, which is to trick people into making a false confession, has been used in at least one case in New Zealand. But if there is concern that the police are not acting appropriately then a complaint should be made and investigated.

Once the IPCA have completed their investigation, the police minister will then receive a report thatwill show a clear understanding of what the problem is and how to rectify it. The minister also has discretion to ask for a briefing on the matter and seek assurances from police that their tactics are the right ones.

However, we are talking about a police minister who is in charge at a time when gang violence and gun crime is at an alltime high, and only increasingmore each year. Since Labour came to office in 2017, every statistic has gone up; gang membership by over 40 per cent, violent crime by 21 per cent, and assaults over 30 per cent. We are dealing with a serious wave of violence and crime throughout the country and the minister seems to turn a blind eye to it.

The police clearly have an incredibly difficult task and sometimes they get it wrong. But there are genuine and effective checks and balances that are in place which ensure that police follow proper process, we need to trust those checks and balances and give police the confidence they need to keep us safe.